Fire escape



R. HAYBECK Nov. 5, 1940.

FIRE ESCAPE Filed Aug. 1e, 1939 INVENTOR mm m' -ibyimwfl ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 5, 1940 UNITED kSTATES PATENT OFFICE FIRE ESCAPE Robert Haybeck, Brooklyn, Nl Y. kAppucatim August 16, 1333, serian No. 290,333

1 Claim.

This invention relates to fire escapes, and among its objects are to provide a device of this character which may be readily attached at or near the top of a ladder, and especially to 5' such ladders as are used by fire departments to assist the firemen in aiding people to` escape from a burning building and to descend to the ground or other place of safety quickly, and to provide for a rapid operation of the device so "f that large numbers of people can be lowered to the ground, one at a time, quickly and in perfect safety by the fireman.-

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character in which the speed of the descent may be regulated.

Other objects are to provide simple mechanism manufactured at a low cost which can be easily attached to a ladder and secured thereto by simple manual adjustments. Y

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

In a preferred form o-f the invention, a pair of brackets are secured opposite each other on the uprights of a ladder. Each bracket provides a bearing which mounts one Iend of a rotatable shaft which extends between the 4-uprights. A spool or reel is fixed on the rotatable shaft between the uprights and has a central portion which permits the winding of a suitable rope in a single layer several times thereon. The sides of the reel are high enough to prevent the ends of the rope from running off the reel, Toothed wheels are fastened on the shaft and are accessible thru openings in the brackets on each upright for engagement by a spring-pressed dog which is pivotally mounted in a housing which may be integral with or separated from the bracket but which is fixed on the upright of the ladder. The pawl or dog is preferably so arranged that it engages a tooth to prevent the rotation of the reel in the direction of the feed of the rope to the ground, which is in the space between the inclined ladder andthe biulding. The rope required for the operation of this device need be only a bit longer than the length of the ladder, and when one end of the rope is down, the other end of the rope is up. The rope may normally be carried in a co-il separated from the ladder, and a small guide string be wound several times over the reel and provided with attaching means such as hooks or rings at either end. When the device is used, one free end of the rope is carried up the ladder by the fireman and supports a ring or hook or similar device by means of which it is attached to the engaging means on the guide son the ladder.

string. Pulling on the other end, the guide string Winds over the reel and the leading end of the rope is attached to some safety device such as a bag or a similar device for supporting an individual, and after the person has been placed therein the fireman grasps the rope on the opposite side of the reel and allows it to slip more or less against the bite o-f the plurality of the coils on the reel and with the pull or the weight of the person in the fire escape device until the person reaches the ground. The opposite end of the rope may have a loop for sliding over the remans arm or may have a device for attachment to the ladder, or the fireman may tie the rope to the ladder and knot it securely. After 1'5 the person has been taken from the device on the ground, the fireman pulls on the rope and the reel rotates against the spring-pressed dog until the safety device is again lifted to the top of the ladder. This device greatly increases the rapidity of lowering people from a building tothe ground and eliminates all danger of falling. The device may be made of aluminum or other light materialso that there is very little weight Reference is made to the drawing, 'in which i Fig. 1 is a perspective viewshowing the invention in use by a fireman lowering a man from a window.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation partly in section, 30 showing the device attached near the top of a ladder.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 illustrates one of the brackets.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. l, there is shown a Window A in a building. A fireman B is shown 'near the top of the ladder in the act of lowering an inmate C from the building. The ordinary ladder has an upright I0 and an upright II connected by rungs or cross-pieces I2. A reel I3 has a central portion of suicient size to permit a ro-pe 31, which may be one-half inch rope, to be 45 wound thereon in a single row four or ve times, and has enlarged sides I4 or I5 which prevent the rope from running off the sides of the reel. A round shaft I6 extends across both uprights I0 and II, and the reel I3 is xed on the shaft I6 intermediate the uprights. On each upright is a bracket I'I which has two bearings I8 separated by an opening I9. At each end of the shaft I6 is a cylindrical counter-sink 20 which admits both bearings I8, and the end walls 2l the reel to form four or ve coils.

'I0 and II.

and 22 of the counter-si-nk 20 provide stops which engage the sides of the bearings I8 and prevent lengthwise movement of the shaft I6 in the bearings. In the upper part of each bracket I1 are two apertures 23 and 24 thru which screws 25 may be attached to secure the brackets I1 on the outer wall of the uprights A clamp 26 is adapted to fit over the bracket on the upright and is composed of twomembers having side lugs 21 which are apertured and secured together by bolts 28 to securely lock the brackets I1 on the uprights. Plates 29 are also apertured and secured on the uprights under the brackets I1 by means of the screws 25, and at the lower end the plates 29 have lugs 30 which mount between them pins 3l onl which are mounted pawls or dogs 32. A spring 33 may be fastened on the plate 29 and presses against the dog 32 to cause it to constantly engage a toothed wheel 34 so that the toothed wheel and the shaft I6 can rotate in only one direction away from the ends of the dogs 32 and are prevented from turning in the opposite direction by the dogs 32. A string 35 is normally kept on the reel I3 and wound about The string 35 at one end is provided with a loop 36 and when the ring or hook 38 is placed in the loop 36 and the opposite end of the string is pulled, the rope 31 is guided on the reel I3 and takes the same number of turns thereon as the string 35. It will be noted that the string toward the end of the loop 36 must be loosened in order to allow the string 35 to feed over the reel I3 because the back end of the string 35 is normally prevented from turning with the reel I3 by the dog 32. After the guide string 35 has wound the rope 31 about the reel I3 to replace it on the reel, the hook 38 is passed thru the top loop of sus- 40 pension cords 39 of a breeches buoy 40 or other suitable device for suspending a man C therein. In lowering children from the window, a large bag may be used in place of the buoy 46.

The essential parts of the device are preferably made of aluminum or of some light mate-a rial so that there is very little weight fixed on the ladder. A coil rope 31 may be kept separate from the ladder and carried up to hook on the guide string 35 as it is needed. The opposite end of the rope 31 may be provided with aloop which may i'it over the iiremans arm or with a suitable fastening means for attachment to the ladder or it may be knotted directly on the ladder by the reman. After the man C is lowered to the ground and removed from the buoy 40, the fireman, who remains at the top of the ladder, pulls up the rope 31, the reel I3 turning freely against the spring 33 which plays lightly on the pawl 32. It is necessary in lowering the person C to the ground for the reman to constantly release or ease the rope 31 against the bite or friction of the coils of the rope on the reel I3 so that the man C is brought safely to the ground and the rope is rapidly raised for removing another person from the window.

Having disclosed my invention, and realizing that, in view of my disclosure, many changes, substitutions or omissions of parts will readily occur tothose skilled in the art, I do not limit myself to the exact forms shown.

I claim:

In a fire escape device for use on ladders, in combination with a ladder having two substantially parallel uprights connected by rungs or cross-pieces, arotatable shaft extending across said uprights, a reel mounted on said shaft and having suicient width to permitthe coiling of a. coil of rope several times in a single layer about said reel, each bracket having a circular bearing for said shaft, the engaging portion of said shaft being countersunk to provide a cylindrical bearing portion and a wall engaging the edge of the bracket to prevent lengthwise movement of the rotatable shaft, a tongue providing apertures for positioning the bracket on the upright, a clamp secured to the bracket for engaging the uprights, teeth formed on the shaft` in said bearing, and spring-pressed dogs mounted on the uprights near the brackets permitting the rotation of the shaft in one direction and preventing the rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction.

ROBERT HAYBECK. 

